Fat Man's Pass

This is a ritual of each new year,
trudging up steep steps of plutonic rock,
slinking cautiously around cactus tines,
trusting rattlers will remain asleep.
Here, granodiorite weathers to bronze.
Coarser grains worn smooth, offer up handholds
as freeze and thaw cause fractures to appear.

Pilgrims here are similarly weathered,
Each upward step strains reluctant tendons,
reminds all muscles what they were hired for.
The saddle is not the true objective.
Boulders like buildings crowd a lean passage
wherein the virtuous few squeeze their way
through, the unprincipled can’t be bothered.